Poker games are among the most popular to gamblers. The game of poker has a wide variety of variations, but in general, most poker games have the common feature that a winner is determined by a resulting hand comprising the best of five cards.
Poker is commonly played at a table with a shoe comprising one or more decks of cards. The cards are dealt manually to multiple players and/or the house, with each player attempting to win the game by becoming the last remaining player during a betting sequence, or by having the highest ranking poker hand of those players remaining in the game after the betting sequence.
Many gamblers, especially the “casual” gambler, dislike aspects of poker played at a table against other players. Some players find the game of face-to-face poker intimidating. Others do not like the betting aspect of the game, which often involves bluffing. To appeal to these players, gaming manufacturers have developed a variety of video poker machines. These machines have a video screen capable of displaying any of a plurality of cards from one or more standard decks of 52 cards, to a player. In general, after one or more card draws or a selection of the displayed cards, the player attempts to obtain a five card hand which comprises a predetermined winning combination of cards. For example, the machine may be arranged to pay a player winnings on a bet in the event the player receives a pair of Jacks or better. During play, the player attempts to obtain a hand having at least a pair of Jacks or better ranking. In this style of game, the player plays against the house only, and little or no betting strategy is involved.
While video poker is popular, it has a number of drawbacks. First, players like to see more than the five displayed cards (or their replacements). In the case of the video machine, only the displayed cards are visible. Thus, a player is not permitted to see that the next card in the deck might have been a card which they desired. Another aspect of the video poker machine is that it presents a somewhat sterile environment. In general, the more action which is associated with a game, the more likely it will retain a player's interest.
A game which incorporates one or more of the principles of poker and which addresses the above-stated issues is desired.